do you think these synths..

[soulslicer]

DO you think these creatures like the mortar synth, crab synth and Ichthyosaur (ya ya i noe its not a synth) will ever appear in the future half life series like ep3 or half life 3?? i always thought these were fantastic possible npc's and i would love to see them ingame..

for those that dunno what they are..

 

[Sheepo]

I expect to see atleast the crab synth and ichythosaur before the end of episode 3. Oh and the ichythosaur isn't a synth.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

DO you think these creatures like the mortar synth, crab synth and Ichthyosaur (ya ya i noe its not a synth) will ever appear in the future half life series like ep3 or half life 3?? i always thought these were fantastic possible npc's and i would love to see them ingame..

for those that dunno what they are..

The one on the right isn't a synth. It's a Xen fauna (though nothing origaniates from Xen) and was in HL1. The other two should have been in epi one IMO, but I'm certain will see them in Epi two.

 

[Planetary]

We'll only see the Icthyosaur if we go near the ocean again, which from the looks of it doesn't seem to be very likely, but there should be a good explanation as to where exactly the others have gone. They can't all have been killed in the 1st Citadel explosion, can they?

I certianly hope in Episode 3, at least, when the Combine reinforcements arrive from the other cites.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Well, the Icthyosaur lives in lakes (the HL2 teleport sequence shows this) and the leeches live in salty water bodies (essentailly the sea)

 

[G-Dude]

I would like the Crab synth and Mortar synth to come and "greet" Gordon. However, the Icythyosaur is more like a grue, if you go somewhere that is restricted, they come and eat your ass. But killing them isn't bad either. P.S. I know that the Crab Synth is a synthetic headcrab, but what the hell is a Mortar Synth? (A modified Xen flying glider?)

 

[crazyelmo]

I don't belive those synths are modifications of anything we've seen before, and those crab synths are much much larger than headcrabs.

 

[G-Dude]

Maybe mutated headcrabs that grew in size and then the Combine expiremented on them?

 

[Sheepo]

Dude, just because it has crab in both words...

 

[soulslicer]

did you know that that goddamn crab synth has 40 textures... if i could get out a better model, you would realise that it is very detailed and very complicated. engines, ammo packs, ect. ect. i most definietely want to battle it. and btw, those must have been the synths that took part in the seven hour war..

 

[GreatEmperor]

Maybe mutated headcrabs that grew in size and then the Combine expiremented on them?

If the Strider and Hunter are the same creature, that shows how much they can be altered and changed

 

[Sheepo]

Since when were the Strider and Hunter the same creature? The only thing I've ever heard on that subject is that they're "in the same synth family".

 

[GreatEmperor]

They have been linked by more than that statement and they are similar, they even had the same weaponry for the promos so what does that say for this

 

[Sheepo]

Yes but that is the official and most recent statement from Valve. And besides where does being similar to something make you that same thing. I, being human, am similar to a gorilla, yet I am not a gorilla. An even better example is that a horse is similar to an elephant, yet is not an elephant. And the weapons on the synth are put there by the combine, it has nothing to do with the presynthified origins of that synth. And FYI they changed the weapon on the hunter to blue trace darts.

 

[GreatEmperor]

Previous statements have not been altered, so i will use them. Plus a horse and an elephant have a lot in common, the same type of creature and from the same planet, not like two separate creatures from different planets both made weapons from and fiddled with. As for them just being from the same planet, i have not seen the Combine messing with anything other than the humans when they were here, they appear to go after the prevalent species on a planet they probably just altered the Striders some more to be a better fighter for the city house to house battle that is here

 

[Planetary]

I think that the severe lack of information about all these things makes speculation a bit... speculative. We'll just have to wait and see for the real answers.

 

[G-Dude]

Okay, maybe the crab synths are not headcrabs! But can you explain the mutated headcrabs that the Combine use! (Poison and Fast headcrabs) P.S. They could have just adapted to their environment.

 

[Sheepo]

Previous statements have not been altered, so i will use them. Plus a horse and an elephant have a lot in common, the same type of creature and from the same planet, not like two separate creatures from different planets both made weapons from and fiddled with. As for them just being from the same planet, i have not seen the Combine messing with anything other than the humans when they were here, they appear to go after the prevalent species on a planet they probably just altered the Striders some more to be a better fighter for the city house to house battle that is here

I believe they're just vaguely similar creatures probably from the same planet. Let bygones be bygones, agree to disagree, etc, etc. Argument closed.

 

[ríomhaire]

But can you explain the mutated headcrabs that the Combine use!

They are natural headcrab variants.

 

[G-Dude]

I said that in my P.S. They could have just adapted and were turned into the variants. But the fast headcrab seems beyond normal naturality.

 

[Mahalis]

I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed that fast and black headcrabs are both mutations off the original species.
And anyhow - something that takes control of peoples' brains and makes them grow claws and things while granting them resistance to toxicity and radiation is "normal naturality"?

 

[xirow]

I hope the Icthyosaur will return. I don't care about the Crab synth and Mortar synth. They don't look very fun to fight.

 

[Planetary]

I'm not sure about that. The crab synth has that big chain gun on front, so I imagine something with the firepower of the helicopter with the accuracy of the gunship... it's not pretty... Maybe it would be the main objective of a chapter, like in Blast Pit, or Pit Worm's Nest? You can't kill it with our weapons, but gotta find some other way of disposing of it?

Probably Episode 4, if ever.

As for the mortar synth, I can't tell. Does it fly? Walk? What does it shoot?

 

[GreatEmperor]

I believe they're just vaguely similar creatures probably from the same planet. Let bygones be bygones, agree to disagree, etc, etc. Argument closed.

Not how i play

They are very similar and the Combine can alter things greatly, the pods and shuttles along with the gunships and Striders all show some similarities and they are clearly not from the same creature easy to see along

 

[Planetary]

Shuttles?

You mean the dropships, don't you?

 

[GreatEmperor]

Shuttles?

You mean the dropships, don't you?

Thats the thing, look at the visor on front

 

[GreatEmperor]

I'm not sure about that. The crab synth has that big chain gun on front, so I imagine something with the firepower of the helicopter with the accuracy of the gunship... it's not pretty... Maybe it would be the main objective of a chapter, like in Blast Pit, or Pit Worm's Nest? You can't kill it with our weapons, but gotta find some other way of disposing of it?

Probably Episode 4, if ever.

As for the mortar synth, I can't tell. Does it fly? Walk? What does it shoot?

Its fired as a mortar look at the design, it would be cool to fight. You see it land into a building and it sprouts razor sharp tentacles that whip through the floors tearing through concrete and shredding creatures it touches

 

[Darkside55]

God the mortar synth is beautiful. Look at its design. It's magnificent.

Also did we almost have a "is the hunter a strider" debate in this thread? Don't make me hit somebody. Hunters are 'baby' striders.

 

[GreatEmperor]

God the mortar synth is beautiful. Look at its design. It's magnificent.

Also did we almost have a "is the hunter a strider" debate in this thread? Don't make me hit somebody. Hunters are 'baby' striders.

It looks like a shell freak

The Hunter is an adapted Strider that is nasty

 

[Planetary]

Yeah, the mortar synth is pretty damned cool, and looks quite different from anything else we've seen.

But why is confetti streaming from the crab synth's legs?

As for the hunter-strider relationship, my belief is that they were originally from the same place, and enslaved by the Combine together, possibly distant relatives, in the same order or family or class of whatever?

As for why they're here, I imagine some big depots in the arctic, kind of like Nova Prospekt, only holding Hunters, not human slaves. That would be why the arctic base is where they show up first, before moving farther south to be encountered in Episode Two. They'd obviously be kept secret, so that the rebels get surprised, like the appearance of the shield scanners. You don't see any before the rebellion, and that one strider we see in Point Insertion uses the normal scanners to help it.

 

[Sheepo]

AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!! How could you possibly think the Hunter and Strider are the same animal? The gunships and dropships are hardly different at all btw. And am I going crazy or did you somewhere in that post suggest that striders and gunships could possibly be the same animal? It's like saying *insert animal analogy here*. :frown:


P.S. :frown:

P.S.S.:frown:

 

[Planetary]

They're quite different. I never said they were the same animal. All I said is that they may be related to each other, kinda like how the dropships and gunship seem related.

 

[Sheepo]

My bad Planetary that post was totally directed to Omega, my bad. I agree with you completely.

 

[Darkside55]

Dropship and gunship actually don't seem related, other than the fact that they fly. Judging by the look of them, what's LEFT of them that hasn't been streamlined into a synth, you can see that they probably were not even from the same world. In fact I would doubt the dropship originally had flight capabilities. It looks more suited to being an aquatic creature than an aerial creature. It looks vaguely reminiscent of a crustacean. Were something of that mass originally able to fly, it would probably have to hop or propel itself on some helium type of gas, and the gravity on its world would have to be substantially lower than ours, and even Xen's.

The gunship, on the other hand, was originally insectoid and sports those biological rudders and a now-modified set of wings. If you get the chance to look at the wings they're built like an insect's, a thin membrane laced with hollow veins. They have four of them as a synth, used as a propeller, but whether or not it originally had four wings or not is speculative. If it did, the configuration probably would've been like a dragonfly's. And judging by their size and their means of conveyance I'd say they came from an atmosphere that was really rich in oxygen and probably had a decent amount of gravity.

Now, as for the hunter and the strider...oi, where were you guys months ago when this was a raging debate and I went through all this?

The synths are self-replicating. They can create more of themselves, though not necessarily copies...they can still have offspring. Strider and hunter share the same design principles, the same simian movement, the same sounds. During a playtest, one of the Valve employees remarked, when the player picked up a strider's leg to throw at a hunter, "Yeah! Hit it with it's mother's leg!" It's the same creature.

 

[Planetary]

So kinda like a caterpillar and a butterfly? Some sort of metamorphosis?

That would explain the difference is size, eye position, gait, skin color, armament, and all that stuff.

No, I'm thinking more along the line of the relation between a giraffe and a tiger. Four legged, two eyed, but otherwise quite different from each other.
AS for the dropship/gunship thing: Pretty much the same markings on their backs, complete with white underside. Any possibility that the dropship always had those big engines? If it comes from a place with natural propellers, would evolution give two pairs of engines to something as well?

Who knows? I'm sure Dr. Kleiner will explain everything in Episode Two.

 

[GreatEmperor]

AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!! How could you possibly think the Hunter and Strider are the same animal? The gunships and dropships are hardly different at all btw. And am I going crazy or did you somewhere in that post suggest that striders and gunships could possibly be the same animal? It's like saying *insert animal analogy here*. :frown:


P.S. :frown:

P.S.S.:frown:

Welcome to Strider Buster duel again, b*tch

1 they look alike

2. They were referred to in Episode 1 as that

3. Dropships and Pods look alike is what i said

4. I said that even though they are different animals, the Gunship and Strider have been altered so they resemble each other, showing how much the Combine alter things for shipment to Earth. They are damn different creatures when you look at and study

 

[GreatEmperor]

Now, as for the hunter and the strider...oi, where were you guys months ago when this was a raging debate and I went through all this?

The synths are self-replicating. They can create more of themselves, though not necessarily copies...they can still have offspring. Strider and hunter share the same design principles, the same simian movement, the same sounds. During a playtest, one of the Valve employees remarked, when the player picked up a strider's leg to throw at a hunter, "Yeah! Hit it with it's mother's leg!" It's the same creature.

Playing Episode 1 probably

That was said in RTB but you can see the assembly line and they clearly have mechanical parts built in so they would have to be very similar to be able to use them and that statement is just not stating anything very well

 

[GreatEmperor]

So kinda like a caterpillar and a butterfly? Some sort of metamorphosis?

That would explain the difference is size, eye position, gait, skin color, armament, and all that stuff.

No, I'm thinking more along the line of the relation between a giraffe and a tiger. Four legged, two eyed, but otherwise quite different from each other.
AS for the dropship/gunship thing: Pretty much the same markings on their backs, complete with white underside. Any possibility that the dropship always had those big engines? If it comes from a place with natural propellers, would evolution give two pairs of engines to something as well?

Who knows? I'm sure Dr. Kleiner will explain everything in Episode Two.

Those engines were made by the aliens clearly and markings were probably painted there also

Heres what i say the synths are, they are the remnants of an alien creature that was inserted with machine parts and developed into a weapon. After some improvements they started manufacturing the creatures along with the machine parts and designed one around the other until they seemed to be just a part of the creature and not really mechanical devices. Think of the Overwatch and than think of the armor becoming like the skin and the respirator like the current lungs. The process is meant to build such things and is what they are going for.

And also i doubt the Striders or crabs survived this looking at these things behavior i say that is all they are after is the building of a weapon from the things here and to all those saying the Combine are going to spare anything i say suck it you are a dumbass for even considering such things seriously using this

 

[Darkside55]

GreatEmperor I gotta tell you man, don't take this the wrong way because I don't mean to be rude, but I try to read your posts and I don't understand most of the stuff you say. Like:

And also i doubt the Striders or crabs survived this looking at these things behavior i say that is all they are after is the building of a weapon from the things here and to all those saying the Combine are going to spare anything i say suck it you are a dumbass for even considering such things seriously using this

I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say here. I keep reading it but I'm not getting what you're saying. You doubt the striders survived what, being turned into synths? I don't understand that. And, "all those saying the combine are going to spare anything," do you mean parts? Spare parts of the creatures? Or you mean spare lifeforms living on the worlds they conquer? Please clarify.

Anyway, striders and hunters:

Size can be explained easily as one is an infant, so to speak, and the other is a full-grown adult. Planetary mentioned giraffes; look at the size difference in an adult giraffe and its young.

Gait is the same. Simian, leads with the forearms, balances with the rear limb and uses the other two to stomp along and change direction. Hunters are faster and less ponderous simply because of their size. Smaller = faster.

Eyes, skin, and weaponry are all Combine modifications. You'll notice the hunters' eyes are mechanical rather than natural. Who's to say their eyes were originally in that configuration?

See the whole point of forced evolution is that when these things produce offspring they're producing a desired creature that the Combine can use. Something the Combine has engineered to be produced. It keeps the basic structure and movement of the creature but adds on all this stuff to it.

As for striders being built in the factories, yes, they are assembled like that by the citadels. Once they're operative though, they can produce hunters. Even if synths weren't able to self-replicate anymore, even if that was written out of the story, we can see that these 'ministriders' were likely the offspring of a strider. They'd be a strider built on a miniature scale for a completely different purpose in warfare.

Even if they WERE a different species, the gap between them would be like two species of apes, not a giraffe and a tiger. But that's moot because they ARE the same species.

 

[victor]

mentally challenged people should be banned from using the internet. i suppose that would kill the forums though.

on a side note, if they're the same species and hunters grow into striders, wouldn't you see size variations for striders/hunters? also, if the biological components are growing surely that would damage whatever weapons/armour have been implanted into the hunter.